


Survival

by sapphire2309



Series: White Collar 100 Fills [4]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Mild Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 02:38:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3593202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire2309/pseuds/sapphire2309
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal doesn't survive, not really. He does everything he can to put himself in Peter Burke's way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Survival Of The Fittest

**Author's Note:**

> For a series of four prompts from [](http://whitecollar100.livejournal.com/profile)[whitecollar100](http://whitecollar100.livejournal.com/) \- City, Country, Ocean, Desert.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people said it was a city like any other. Neal knew better.

New York.

Some people said it was a city like any other. Neal knew better.

It was a city in which dreams came true; it was a city in which dreams were destroyed. It was a city designed on Darwin’s ‘Survival of the Fittest’ concept, and Neal was a survivor.

He’d made it through years of living a lie and pretending he was someone he wasn’t. He wasn’t a good boy. He was the son of a cop killer.

St. Louis was no place for the son of a cop-killer.

But in New York, people would make room for one.


	2. Survival Of The Fittest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neal wants to flee the country.

Neal Caffrey loved New York City with a sizable chunk of his heart.

So it was understandable that he didn’t know how or why his gut would want him to flee the country for Italy or Spain, Canada if he didn’t have a choice.

He thought about it too frequently.

His confused musing ended as he watched Agent Peter Burke enter a restaurant he’d just vacated, tall, confident and blatantly Fed.

New York City may be welcoming, but the States would never be safe for him if Burke was on his trail.

He set up shop in New York City.


	3. Soothing Ocean, Restless Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trek of California's coastline does nothing to calm Neal's heart.

Neal had been trekking California’s pristine coastline for nearly a week now. The scent of salted air and the soothing crash of waves had dulled, if not calmed, the impatient buzz at the back of his mind.

Even the steady ocean couldn’t still his restless heart.

He sighed and let himself fall, loose limbed, onto the fluid white sand.

Somewhere in his heart, he’d known that this trip had been an exercise in futility.

There was a future for him, printed in black and white. It wasn’t pleasant.

Eventually, he was going to get caught.

Eventually, Burke would catch him.


	4. Late Night Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night phone call from an international number.

Neal selected an unused burner phone from his Venice collection and dialed a number.

“Burke,” sounded the voice, sleep-clogged and bleary.

“Hey, Peter!” he said, in a voice that was far too excited for 3:52 a.m.

It took barely ten seconds to trace a call. The Feds would be here in ten minutes, which gave him eight to enjoy the rather annoyed voice of a rather annoyed Burke and two to get the hell out.

Neal smiled. This was going to be fun.

The truth, the wretched fear, was carefully hidden behind a mirage like an oasis in a desert.


End file.
